1) It’s not often the Guatemalan third division features in this roundup, but it’s also not often a player – in this case Rosbin Ramos of Batanecos – drops to the ground writhing in agony, pretending to have been hit by an object thrown from the crowd. Ramos is not the first: who could forget Dida’s slight overreaction to an admittedly stupid pitch invader at Celtic Park? Or Feyenoord’s Steven Berghuis? Or even this? Worse still is the tale of Roberto Rojas. Back in 1989, Chile needed to beat Brazil to qualify for the World Cup and were trailing 1-0 when keeper Rojas pretended to have been hit by a flare, cutting himself with a razor blade hidden in his glove. The game was abandoned and Rojas banned for life (a sanction lifted in 1991) while Chile, whose manager and doctor were in on the sting, were excluded from the 1994 tournament.
2) Some referees are frustrated players, just like the rest of us. Here’s Óscar Macías blocking a goalbound shot from Cruz Azul, in their Liga MX game against Toluca. And here’s Maurice Paarhuis, refereeing a game in the Dutch fourth division, accidentally scoring for HSV Hoek against Harkemase Boys. And here’s Atay Daudov bagging for Manas against Keyes DD in the second round of the LFL Dagestan. Of course, no such digest is complete without our very own Mike Dean, so here’s Sky Sports’ homage.
3) On this day in 1964, Muhammad Ali – or Cassius Clay as he was then – became heavyweight champion of the world for the first time, when Sonny Liston failed to answer the bell at the start of the seventh round; enjoy the full fight here. On this day in 1989, Mike Tyson stopped Frank Bruno in round five of their heavyweight title fight; enjoy the full fight here. Also on this day in 1995, Nigel Benn’s super-middleweight world title fight against Gerald McClellan ended in tragic circumstances; watch a documentary looking at what happened next here.
4) Women in cycling: check out Rouleur’s fascinating round-table conversation between Lizzie Deignan, Fran Millar and Monica Santini.
5) Great goal, shame about the celebration. And how about this from Southend’s Nathan Ferguson?
6) The Premier League weekend opens with Manchester City v West Ham, so here’s the March 1970 version of the game – played on a Maine Road mud flat and featuring Jimmy Greaves maintaining his record of scoring on every career debut, Geoff Hurst playing dirty and Ronnie Boyce cracking home one of the goals of the decade.
1) Has a race ever been called off because of poor driving? Why, yes!
2) Being an NHL ref can be a painful business.
3) The masterly glovework of Sarah Taylor.
4) Last week, Team GB’s Elliot Giles ran the second-quickest indoor 800m in history.
Spotters’ badges: germit, Snarlygog, vsbain67
